Scenic America celebrates local endeavors

Sean Flynn Daily News staff writer

Thursday

Sep 5, 2013 at 12:01 AMSep 5, 2013 at 10:39 PM

NEWPORT, R.I. — The board members of Scenic America on Thursday evening honored Middletown Town Council President Christopher Semonelli and other council members for voting to remove the billboards on the Boulevard Nurseries property on East Main Road last year, although opponents argued it would mean a loss of about $50,000 in revenue a year for the town.

The meeting of Scenic America, which claims to be the only national nonprofit organization dedicated solely to preserving and enhancing the visual character of the nation’s communities, took place at the home of Ronald Lee Fleming on Bellevue Avenue. He is the chairman of the board.

“It’s so much more beautiful now that there are no billboards there, just a trail that leads into the woods,” Semonelli said.

The organization also honored Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee and Michael P. Lewis, director of the state Department of Transportation, for establishing a program that hires local artists to paint murals on bridge abutments along highways in the state.

Lewis said his award should go to Jonathan Stevens, the governor’s assistant for special projects, who is spearheading the highway beautification project.

“How we design our infrastructure is as important as the infrastructure itself,” Lewis said.

Chafee said he was a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works after he was appointed to the Senate in 1999. He recalled the chairman of the committee, U.S. Senator James Inhofe, R-Oklahoma, sharing a story of how he began his political career by speaking against the highway beautification program led by Lady Bird Johnson in the 1960s.

“Why would you testify against highway beautification?” Chafee asked him.

“Property rights of the individual,” was Inhofe’s answer, the governor said.

Chafee’s irony in telling the story drew laughs from the 75 guests present at the gathering on the patio at Bellevue House.

He accepted the organization’s Stafford Award, named after former U.S. Sen. Robert Stafford, R-Vermont, a staunch environmentalist who died in 2006 and opposed billboards in Vermont.

During the event, John Hirschboeck announced the expansion of The Daffodil Project, a local beautification project along Newport roads and pathways.

Thanks to Fleming’s largesse, the city has planted more than 20,000 daffodil bulbs a year for the past eight years, for a total of more t han 160,000 bulbs. The daffodils can be seen every spring at the entrances to the city including at Farewell Street and Memorial Boulevard and along the Cliff Walk.

“We may be daffy, but with the help of Newport residents and businesses, we want to grow that to 1 million daffodils — and help make Newport an even more beautiful city in which to live, work and to visit — each and every spring,” Hirschboeck said in prepared remarks.

He is the project director for the new initiative, called “Daffodillion.” It is outlined at a new website, www.daffodillion.org.

Co-sponsors of the initiative include the Preservation Society of Newport, the Newport Restoration Foundation, Salve Regina University, Newport in Bloom, the city of Newport and local philanthropists.

In order to accelerate the plantings, Daffodillion will be giving away free bulbs at the Easton’s Beach parking lot on Saturday, Oct. 19, from 9 a.m-2 p.m. The complimentary packets of bulbs have a retail value of more than $20. All that’s required is to bring along an “I commit to plant my free daffodils” pledge that can be downloaded at the website. Supplies will be limited and dependent on the amount of donations and sponsors. More than 10,000 bulbs have been donated to date, organizers said.

In honor of Newport’s 375th anniversary in 2014, a donation of $375 will plant 1,639 daffodils in the year of the city’s founding. People making the donation will be part of the “Daffy Founders Club” and will receive special recognition in April 2014, when the daffodils bloom throughout Newport.

“The more Founders Club Members who join in beautifying Newport, the more free bulbs we can give away,” Hirscheboeck said. “Of course, donations of any amount are appreciated.”

Checks can be made out to ALN-Daffodillion and mailed to: Daffodillion, c/o Alliance for a Livable Newport, P.O. Box 2636, Newport, RI 02840.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, the 1988 Democratic candidate for president, was a guest of honor at the event. Also present were representatives from 10 state “Scenic” organizations, including Scenic Virginia, Scenic North Carolina, Scenic Kentucky and Scenic Texas.

“We may get a Scenic Rhode Island out of this,” Fleming said.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.